The Wexell Escape Room Puzzle Kit
At the beginning of the Puzzle Master’s Handbook for The Wexell Escape Room Kit, the author James Hammer-Morton summarises the concept extremely well.
Escape Rooms are a growing industry, still exploding into the mainstream and finding their feet. Originally designed as a series of keys and locks, companies are experimenting to create unique rooms relevant to modern zeitgeists. Deadlocked Rooms decided to step away from padlocks while remaining as diegetic and realistic as possible.
One of our Deadlocked rooms involved a series of puzzles that used documents and articles that, when referenced together, led to something else entirely. A chance encounter with a publisher – and an invite to visit our room – led to us excitedly discussing how we could translate the pleasure of interconnected puzzles into an at home game.
That’s exactly what Welbeck Publishing and James Hammer-Morton have done; experimented with and condensed the concept into a home version.
Giveaway
To win a copy of The Wexell Escape Room Puzzle Kit, enter via Rafflecopter below. There will be three winners, each obtaining a kit.
Ends 15/06/20 Other T&C’s apply.
Plot Synopsis
Adam Parkinson is an investigative detective who has found himself caught up in the murky schemes of the Wexell Corporation. Players with Adam must solve a series of puzzles in order to escape their reach and expose the conspiracy.
How to Play
The box contains a story/puzzle book, 41 puzzle cards, a cut-out dice and 10 easy, medium and hard difficulties.
To work in its best possible way, one player would need to be the Puzzle Master. Their role is to facilitate the game; much like the DM is in D&D. The level they go to with this is up to them and they can make it as interactive an experience as they do or don’t want to. It is the Puzzle Master who would be expected to hide the puzzle cards, relay the story and (if dedicated) make any physical changes to the play space.
For the rest of the players, moment-to-moment play depends largely on the Puzzle Master but their experience will be moving through five rooms (some with multiple phases) solving puzzles and getting lost in the narrative.
The Puzzles
Forty is a finite number and it is easy to imagine that this makes play limited, in some ways it does but it is certainly more than enough to enjoy a few jaunts through this campaign and more than a few hours worth of entertainment.
Puzzles range from the simple missing number and word sorts, to complex patterns and riddles. There is a lot of variety. Whilst those who are intimately familiar with the format are likely to breeze through some; there is something for everyone and the hint system appears to be well designed.
Closing Thoughts
In the same way that movie enthusiasts might see watching a film at home as inferior to the big screen, I don’t doubt that escape room enthusiasts will feel the same here. You lose the budget. The theatrics and set design are absent as is some degree of the tension. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t fun to be had, this is an alternate experience, a taster. There is much to be said for that. The Wexell Escape Room Puzzle Kit acts as an effective form of marketing; but also, a way of achieving this experience when you cannot otherwise and a fun concept that is absolutely worth experiencing.
* This is a collaborative post. All opinions, feelings and experiences are my own.
The Busy Papa
Also known as Aaron, The Busy Papa focuses on lifestyle, parenting and personal wellbeing content. He has two decades experience in creative writing (including several published poems) and strongly dislikes (though tolerates) tomatoes.
This looks great!
I love the idea of this!
we love escape room experience so this will be fun
I love this
We love going to escape rooms and missing it just now! Would love to win!
Sounds like a fun, interesting game!
Our boys will love this Thankyou
Our boys will be thrilled Thankyou Great way to learn and have fun together
looks great fun x
this looks awesome
Looks like a fun prize x
YES PLEASE COUNT ME IN
Yes please
Would love to read this book 🙂
This looks like we would have great fun with this
What a great idea lots of fun
Great idea! This would keep us occupied for ages.
such a good comp would love to win!
This looks great – something different to entertain us when we can’t get out and about.
This is a great idea for something a bit different to do to pass time and keep us entertained x
fingers crossed 🙂 xx
This looks like something my family would enjoy!
Great, count me in
Sounds like fun
This sounds like my kind of thing. Thank you for sharing this great giveaway with us. I love puzzles, great mental exercise.
I think this is a great idea! Looks like a lot of fun!
It looks very good and something we would all enjoy
Looks like fun!
Such a great idea, looks like fun!
fab, thx for the chance
This looks really cool!
I love escape rooms
perfect for my boys x
Wow, this looks fab!!
Looks fun.
This looks fun and great for the family to enjoy together
I loved the “real” escape room I did, so this would be fun!
Great fun!
this sounds like great fun – have done a few of those who dunnit dvd murders a few years ago as well as gone to a few parties where ppl have had kits too and it was always a blast
I love this! It looks like a lot of fun
We LOVE escape room games – sounds great!!!
Hello, thank you for the chance to win, it looks like a fun game.
My daughter had her birthday in lockdown this year and I made her a set of clues to find her birthday presents hidden around the house. She and her sister seemed to have lots of fun working them out and I remember thinking I’d really like one to do myself so this would be perfect.
Looks great!
I think this would be good to do with our older grandchildren
Love an escape room
our family love things like this, so we would really appreciate it
Love this sort of thing 🙂
This looks great!
THis looks like so much fun I absolutely love escape games!
This sounds amazing, we have never managed to do a real life escape room and obviously at the moment we can’t , this would be fab family fun!